I've inflated these tires a few times just to get a beast to roll, didn't like doing it but I didn't inflate them fully and stood as far away as possible and made sure no one was in the line of fire. Some times you gotta do what you gotta do.

Just as long as some one knows the dangers and isn't going to put other in danger I don't care. I just hate the cocky guys who blow off the dangers of truly dangerous activities, not just the WMs. I've found these types are best to stay away from. Sooner or later something bad is going to happen.

 

Couldn't the guy put a dolly under one end and lift the other behind the wrecker to get it moved? Or just drag it up onto the rollback? Stu

 

Maybe he could, but he runs the show. His other truck is the one with the big clam, which is the one I thought he would use, but he says it's "down".

 

I've got 9.00-20's on my 55 F-600 and they fit fine. Tight, but they don't rub...

 

Here's pics of the F-500 that's sitting on a set of 22.5s. It's at Montana Classic Cars in Gallatin Gateway, Montana. The guy I talked to didn't own it, but owned other cars/trucks on the lot and thought it'd sell for about $1500. Probably you'd have to buy the truck, swap wheels, then resell the truck. The guy to talk to is Terry Morris. Phone (406) 580-5079. I have no financial interest in the truck. Stu

 

Can somebody tell me how to get a widowmaker apart? My '54 F6 has 18,000 original miles, the original B.F. Goodrich SilverTown tires and probably the original AIR in the tires. Except for one that went flat just sitting there. I had to let the bucket of my tractor down on one side and drive my truck up on the other side just to break the bead! I don't know what to do next. Do you push, pull, twist, beat, what? the thing is solid as a rock. Probably never been apart since the factory put it on. I finally found somebody that will mount my new tires on those rims. I would have bought a set of 19.5's or whatever they were but I had already bought new 20" tires and it took a year to find somebody to mount them. I just want to get the thing apart to see for myself what they look like inside. I've seen cross sectional drawings and photos of them (that you guys have posted) without tires but still together but never one of the inner lip. Anyway, How do you get them apart? Thanks.

 

Here's an old thread that has links to two OSHA training web sites. The widowmaker disassembly explanation is in the left hand column of the second section of the Demount/Mount page. Stu

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...ml#post5470496

 

Thank you, Stu. That's exactly what I needed to know.

 

Thanks to everyone contributing here I have purchased a 1956 F600 dump truck. The old girl is a working truck in terrific condition, garaged for 30 years, used regularly and kept respectfully by a careful 81-year old man (until last night when I bought it). I learned the H-pattern as a boy in the 1960's sitting right next to my grand dad, shifting his old ford trucks. I intend to pass this on to my young boys (I'm an old dad).

If anyone on this thread has a line on some six lug 20-inch rims in good condition, I need to replace the widow makers on my truck. I don't want to go the American Wheel Specialist or motor home wheel route, preferring the look of the big hand holds on the originals. I worry that 22.5" rims won't give enough clearance under the dump bed under load. (Wish I could get away with taller tires so as to to bump the effective final ratio down some). I can afford shipping. Please let me know.

Thanks everyone for a really great site.

Jack

 

Hey Jack,
Congrats on your new truck, what year is it? As to the 22.5's they really won't be taller than the 20" rims, it get's into tire size and overall tire diameter / and selection available for the 22.5's. Stu will probably check-in and give you a quick education on rims and sizes.

 

Hi Jack,


First of all, I STRONGLY suggest you edit out your email address from your message. People can send you a PM. There's "Auto-Bots" that search these message boards for email addresses. The SPAM can be unending!!


I would suggest you consider using 19.5 or 22.5 wheels if you can find them.


I have 9.00-20 tires on mine and I had any clearance problems at all.

I am using lock-ring type wheels. If I could have found 5 Lug 19.5 or 22.5 wheels I would have gotten them at the time. There's NOTHING wrong with the lock-ring wheels though. they're perfectly safe if assembled correctly and kept in good condx.

I wouldn't even drive truck with "widow-makers" though.



Cheers,

Rick

 

Jack - First, welcome to the group. Glad to have you, and glad you're saving another big truck.

The first thing I'd like to say is that if you have an F-6, and not an F-600, you need five lug wheels instead of six lug wheels. Next, like rb48f6 said, an 8.25" x 20" has the same +/- 38" outside tire diameter as a 9R22.5. The reason is the design of the bead. The tube type has what's called a 5° bead while the tubeless has a 15° bead. Here's a side by side diagram of the two that lets you see the differences in wheel construction and bead design.



I'm totally with you on keeping the truck original by finding used lock ring style wheels. Depending on how you plan to use the truck, you'll want 20" x 6" if you plan to run 8.25s. If you are gonna use 20" x 5" you can run 7.50s. So, assuming you have 5 lug hubs, our member Josh Madsen has you covered. He lives down in the Salt Lake area and bought maybe two dozen at an auction a while back to keep them from being junked. I just did him a private message and asked him to check in here. I have about 9 wheels too that I bought for the same reason, but Josh is much closer to you. Good luck with the truck. Stu

 

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the help. It's a '56. I just edited my post. So I guess the sidewall is a little shorter that fits on the 22.5" rim, eh? Yeah, thinking about it, a 22.5 is common diameter; I'd bet rubber for 20" rims is scarce. Of course, the rubber that is on the current 20" rims is in great shape.

I'm kind of dumb at this and appreciate the schooling. I've got to admit that I'm not even sure what I have on the truck IS a widow maker. I can see that the outer ring is split. Is that the criteria. Since the wheels are not disassembled there is much I can't see. The fella I bought the truck from said he recently had The Tire Factory put new rubber on. This might be encouraging. Either that outfit is badly untrained, or there is some possibility these are good wheels. Just not sure. I bought the truck last night, but couldn't drive both rigs home by myself. Will have to go back next week and pick it up. Can't just wheel it by Les Schwab to ask.

Regards,

Jack

 

Hi Rick,

I hastily removed my e-mail address. Thanks greatly for the tip. I wonder if you meant to write that you have 9x22.5's instead of 9x20's. This F6 comes with 20's. So apparently 22.5's will allow for a load and rear spring compression w/o creating clearance problems in the back, or wheel rubbing up front? That would be good news. See my reply to Bob giving more info about the wheels. Not really sure what I have, but don't want my ignorance to hurt anyone.

Jack

 

Ok, so what I said above changes a little since you have an F-600. They do have 6 lug x 8.75" bolt circle. You said that you can see that the outer ring is split, so that means you probably already have lock ring style wheels. As long as they are in good shape, you should be fine using them, especially if new tires were mounted not long ago. Places like Les Schwab's big truck shops will keep you in service a lot of years.

Just to complete the discussion, here are pictures of a lock ring wheel first, then two pics of a widowmaker Firestone RH-5°. You can see the split in the ring here. Some lock rings have solid one piece rings but I doubt you have them since that's an older design. On the widowmaker you want to look for the raised band like area on the concave side of the wheel. That's the joint.

First the lock ring.



Now the widow maker.




If you did ever decide to go with tubeless 22.5s, these should be available used in reasonable numbers. They are also still sold new by Accuride in a 6.75" width. If you wanted to buy new here's the Accuride on-line catalog that lists them. Part number 28157. Stu

http://www.accuridewheels.com/studpilot.pdf